Why Partner visa applications from India are refused

Your UK partner's income (or your combined cash savings) did not reach £29,000 in the way the rules count it, or the evidence in Appendix FM-SE was incomplete (missing payslips, statements not showing the salary credits, employer letter without the required details). Income from the applicant in India does not count unless you have a confirmed UK job to start within 3 months.

What to fix: work through the Appendix FM-SE checklist for the category used (A, B, D, F or G) and include every listed document; reconcile payslips and bank credits line by line; if income is short, calculate the savings needed: £16,000 + 2.5 x shortfall, held 6 months.

The officer was not satisfied that the marriage or relationship is real and continuing. Arranged marriages are accepted, but the file must show contact, visits, shared finances or plans, and consistent answers from both sides.

What to fix: a relationship timeline with dated evidence: calls and chats (summaries, not thousands of pages), visits (stamps, tickets), money transfers, joint plans; sponsor's and applicant's personal statements that match; marriage registration certificate and evidence the ceremony was valid in India.

Either there was no evidence you have physically met, or the officer doubts you will live together permanently in the UK (for example the sponsor is not living in the UK, or there is no accommodation plan).

What to fix: passport stamps, tickets and photos of the meeting; sponsor's UK residence evidence (payslips, tenancy, council tax); accommodation letter, tenancy or mortgage plus a property inspection report where crowded.

The A1 test was not a SELT (for example a standard IELTS or an online test), had expired, or the Indian degree was not confirmed by Ecctis as taught in English. Indian degrees always need the Ecctis statement; a university letter alone is not enough.

What to fix: book IELTS Life Skills A1, PTE Home A1, LanguageCert or Skills for English A1 at a SELT centre; or obtain the Ecctis English Language Proficiency statement for your degree.

The sponsor's status does not qualify, one party was under 18, the marriage is not recognised (for example not registered, or a previous marriage not legally ended), or the officer found a previous relationship was still subsisting.

What to fix: sponsor's passport or share code, or settled status evidence; marriage certificate from the registrar (Hindu Marriage Act, Special Marriage Act or other), with translation if needed; divorce decree absolute or death certificate for any previous spouse.

The family application was refused on character grounds, not relationship or money. These are the Appendix FM versions of the Part 9 criminality rules.

What to fix: get full reasons; family-route suitability refusals carry a right of appeal where human rights are engaged; take regulated advice; evidence of rehabilitation and the best interests of any children in the UK.

The officer accepted you did not meet a requirement (usually income) and also decided there was nothing exceptional about your situation that would make refusal unjustifiably harsh. This paragraph appears at the end of most family refusals.

What to fix: this is the ground an appeal argues: children's best interests, serious health issues, insurmountable obstacles to family life in India; gather evidence before appealing; the tribunal looks at the facts at the hearing date.

A mandatory refusal: you were deported from the UK or formally excluded, and that order is still in force. No visa can be granted until the order is revoked.

What to fix: apply for revocation of the deportation order (normally after 10 years, earlier only in exceptional cases) with a UK regulated adviser; do not submit new visa applications while the order stands; each refusal adds to the record.

The officer considers your behaviour, character or associations make you unsuitable, for example extremism, serious dishonesty not covered by other paragraphs, or a pattern of conduct abroad. Used rarely but it is mandatory.

What to fix: obtain the full reasons (ask for the decision notice and consider a Subject Access Request); character evidence and clearance certificates; this ground usually needs legal representation.

A mandatory refusal for a prison sentence of 12 months or more anywhere in the world, or for repeat offending or serious-harm offences. Sentences under 12 months are considered under 9.4.2 to 9.4.5 (discretionary, with time limits for visitors).

What to fix: always declare convictions; non-disclosure leads to a 9.7.1 deception finding on top; for shorter sentences, show the time elapsed and rehabilitation evidence; get the court record and sentence length in English.

The Home Office says something in your application was false: a fake bank statement, an edited employer letter, an undisclosed previous refusal, or a document an agent made up without telling you. 'Whether or not to the applicant's knowledge' means you are refused even if the agent did it. Where deception is found, a 10-year ban under 9.8.4 usually follows.

What to fix: get your file: Subject Access Request to UKVI for the verification notes; if a document was genuine, obtain written confirmation from the issuer and a statement from them; if an agent submitted documents without your knowledge, gather the agent's receipts, messages and a police complaint; it does not remove the finding but can matter for later applications.

A discretionary version: a previous application contained something false and the officer has chosen to refuse this one because of it, without a formal deception finding. The difference matters: 9.7.2 does not by itself bring the 10-year ban.

What to fix: address the earlier problem head-on in a cover letter with the correct documents; show that the current application is fully consistent with the earlier one where the earlier one was true.